269 episodes

Decipher SciFi explores the how and why in science fiction with conversations about technology, humanity, and the future. This is not a review show, nor will you see much criticism or snark. It is a rationally optimistic look, through film, at where society and technology are and where they are headed. Also, butts.

Decipher SciFi Decipher Media

    • Science
    • 5.0 • 36 Ratings

Decipher SciFi explores the how and why in science fiction with conversations about technology, humanity, and the future. This is not a review show, nor will you see much criticism or snark. It is a rationally optimistic look, through film, at where society and technology are and where they are headed. Also, butts.

    Isolated BS: VR breakthroughs, space clouds, and earthworm jerky

    Isolated BS: VR breakthroughs, space clouds, and earthworm jerky

    Spaaaaace

    Clouds in space…? Microsoft Azure Space and Azure Orbital. Making space cheaper and more accessible with satcomm as a service.


    VR

    The new Oculus Quest. Past predictions. Pulling the VR market in the direction of affordability? Pandemic winter VR. Hating Facebook while embracing their VR product. Getting better at not getting sick. Experiences of unreality.


    Conferencing

    Virtual chewing noises. Missing irl conference-going. It’s like a vacation for adult nerds!


    Food

    Food preservation. Preserved dairy variations by latitude. Jerky! Appreciating controlled rot. Earthworm jerky. Roasted grasshoppers!






    About Chapulines: Wikipedia



    Zebra vs Horses: Animal Domestication by CGP Grey: YouTube




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    • 31 min
    Her: sad foreheads, augmented audio presence, and friendly AI takeoff scenarios

    Her: sad foreheads, augmented audio presence, and friendly AI takeoff scenarios

    AI everything

    Creating a thinking, feeling artificial intelligence to do really important things for humanity like… sorting through your e-mail. N-dimensional AI chess. Rapid takeoff scenarios.


    Personal Assistants

    Natural language processing developments. The rise of proactive digital personal assistants. Predictive local, personal information.


    Digital relationship

    Virtual aural closeness. Presence and audio AR. Developments in form factor, interface, and functionality. Understanding the acoustics of spaces, materials, and your biology. Room mapping. Love, infinite attention, and generosity.


    The Forehead

    Feeling the heartbreak, right in the forehead.






    Her forehead scene: YouTube




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    • 37 min
    An unexplained absence

    An unexplained absence

    You may be wondering where we went for a minute there 😬



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    • 5 min
    The Core: Flying bricks, pacemakers, and quantum avian eyeballs

    The Core: Flying bricks, pacemakers, and quantum avian eyeballs

    Forgetability

    The valley of forgetability (The Core) between science-respecting sci-fi (e.g. Arrival) and totally bonkers nonsense (e.g. Jupiter Ascending).


    Space shuttle

    Landing the “flying brick.”


    Bird navigation

    Magnetite beaks. The possibility of quantum eyeball magnetic navigation HUDs. Corvid appreciation. Why birds don’t all fly into our windows and our eyeballs.


    Pacemakers

    Keeping your heart on-rhythm. Not as immediate a death sentence as portrayed.


    Earth’s outer core

    The absurd energies in the spinning of Earth’s core - a ball of iron the size of Mars, spinning a thousand miles an hour


    That’s a whole lot of energy. If it doesn’t sound like much, let’s convert it to megatons: it’s the equivalent energy of five trillion one megaton bombs going off.
    Phil Plait on the spinning outer core






    Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy Review of The Core: BadAstronomy.com




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    • 23 min
    Stank waffles, VR development, and Venusian cloud datacenters

    Stank waffles, VR development, and Venusian cloud datacenters

    Clouds in episode image from “Storm Clouds” by Albert Bierstadt/The White House Historical Association CC-O @ Wikipedia



    Waffles


    Belgian Waffle formula

    Tasty waffles! Stank waffles! With lots of syrup! Solving food problems with casseroles. Gravy!


    VR

    Marveling at the Oculus Quest two 25% price drop from the last generation. Hating Facebook. Realizing the separateness of AR and VR development, even within companies working on both at the same time (Facebook). Can/will AR and VR converge and become ubiquitous?


    WFH

    Working from home. Surprisingly long hikes and arachnid attacks. Tiny child legs and tiny child wills.


    Venus

    Life on venus? The dense, deep, permanent nature of the Venusian cloud layer. The possible effect on drake equation. Looking forward to balloon probes in the Venusian atmosphere.


    Ocean data

    Ocean-floor data centers. The cost of infrastructure and cooling vs the cost of real estate. The value of removing humans from the environment because we’re so loud and clumsy and moist.






    Review: We do not recommend the $299 Oculus Quest 2 as your next VR system: Ars Technica



    Oculus Quest 2: Oculus.com



    Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus: Nature Astronomy



    Chemical that shouldn’t be there spotted in Venus’ atmosphere: Ars Technica



    Microsoft declares its underwater data center test was a success: Ars Technica




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    • 38 min
    Raised by Wolves: exoplanets, eating rats, and fake-karate floaty physics

    Raised by Wolves: exoplanets, eating rats, and fake-karate floaty physics

    Happy 5-year anniversary whoooooo

    🥳🎉


    Subluminal interstellar travel

    Accelerating for half of the ride, and braking for the other half. The advantage of avoiding squishy human cargo for high acceleration. The difference between the Alucard and the Alcubierre drive technologies (hint: a miserable pile of secrets). Special floaty physics, magnets on your feet, and fake karate.


    Exoplanets

    Exploring the growing options for Earth-like life in the solar-system. Kepler 22b. Where did the megafauna go? Exogestation - growing babies on alien soil.


    Meat stuff

    Sourcing and preparing rat meat. Snails. Face/Off and changing your identity.






    Exoplanet Exploration - Planets Beyond our Solar System: NASA




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    • 47 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
36 Ratings

36 Ratings

Crashharper ,

Butt stuff 😝

Informative, hilarious , and just plain awesome keep up the good work !!

BlueRabidRabbit ,

Edutaining!

I’ve guested on a few episodes on theirs, so my review may be biased, but if you love hard science fiction and exploring the questions and big ideas behind scifi films, then it’s a must listen. The hosts are funny, intelligent, have great chemistry, and I’m honored to call them friends. Never stop!

-Daniel James Barker

JayBru0302 ,

Learn, laugh and guaranteed be entertained.

I am a podcaster myself and I have listened to literally hundreds of different podcasts and currently subscribe to nearly 50 and these guys are hands down in my top three. Their approach is compeletely unique and fresh, they are smart as hell, and have an awesome rapport and witty exchange. Every time you tune in you're going to learn something new, you're gonna catch yourself laughing out loud and you will guaranteed be entertained and looking forward to the next one. Subscribe and thank me later.

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